MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Stake Raised by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,614 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $2,705,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Advisors LLC increased its stake in MSCI by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 664 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $376,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Conning Inc. raised its holdings in MSCI by 4.1% during the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 479 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in MSCI by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,080 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,177,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 542 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of MSCI by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 423 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $204,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $562.37 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 1-year low of $439.95 and a 1-year high of $617.39. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $551.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $521.62.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.55 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $707.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $696.41 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.09% and a net margin of 43.86%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.26 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.79 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSCI has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded MSCI to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSCI has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.00.

MSCI Company Profile

MSCI Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides critical decision support tools and solutions for the investment community to manage investment processes worldwide. The Index segment provides indexes for use in various areas of the investment process, including indexed financial product, such as ETFs, mutual funds, annuities, futures, options, structured products, and over-the-counter derivatives; performance benchmarking; portfolio construction and rebalancing; and asset allocation, as well as licenses GICS and GICS Direct.